Atletico Madrid News
Official: De Paul, Molina, Modric start ahead of Argentina vs Croatia; World Cup semis
Argentina and Croatia will travel to Lusail, Qatar, for the first semi-finals of the 2022 World Cup. Both sides are coming off impressive penalty shoot-out wins against the Netherlands and Brazil respectively, and more than deserve a place in the semis.
Atletico Madrid have two representatives in the Argentina national team, with Rodrigo de Paul starting on the right-wing of the 4-4-2. Nahuel Molina also gets the nod, placed at right-back ahead of the suspended Gonzalo Montiel.
Lionel Messi leads Argentine lines alongside Julian Alvarez, with Angel Correa on the bench and yet to receive any minutes in the tournament.
Meanwhile, Luka Modric will take the responsibility of leading Croatia to their second successive World Cup final, starting in central midfield alongside Marcelo Brozovic and former Madrid star Mateo Kovacic.
Real Madrid target Josko Gvardiol takes his place in central defence, guarding arguably the best goalkeeper of the tournament – Dominik Livakovic.
Atletico Madrid News
Atletico Madrid monitoring teenage striker with €40 million release clause – Romano
According to transfer expert Fabrizio Romano, Atletico Madrid are among the clubs monitoring the progress of UD Almeria striker Marciano Sanca.
The 19-year-old Guinea-Bissau forward joined Almeria from Portuguese outfit Leixoes in January last year, linking up with the club’s B team.
Marciano has made three league appearances Almeria’s reserve team and has not scored a goal yet. The teenager has been training with the first-team setup regularly and Romano claims that he is close to making his debut in La Liga.
While he might not have made a splash at the senior level yet, Marciano seems to be already gathering admirers with Atletico Madrid, Villarreal and Brighton & Hove Albion said to be tracking the youngster.
Los Rojiblancos are set to enter the market for a new centre-forward as Joao Felix is expected to be sold permanently while Alvaro Morata’s future is also not entirely certain.
So even though Diego Simeone has Memphis Depay, Angel Correa, and Morata at his disposal, Atletico Madrid will dive into the market for a new striker with there being links to Mateo Retegui of Boca Juniors, currently on loan at Tigre.
Now, Marciano has also emerged as a potential target or Atletico Madrid, although signing him will not be easy in the summer.
Even though the 19-year-old’s contract expires in 2024, he is bound by a release clause worth €40 million and Almeria intend to keep him at the club beyond this season.
So, the La Liga club might hold out for the entire release clause amount in order to stave off potential suitors like Atletico Madrid, who are not in a position to make such an investment on an unproven youngster.
